Envelope opener



May 5, 1942. R. v. JEwE'rT ENVELOPE OPENER Filed May 26, 1941 f/Patented May 5, 1942 l-TFlCE 2,282,062 -AfENvELoPE oPENEn Raymond V. 1Jewet-t, Chtina,".Terr-itory, of Alaska lA lpplication May '26, 1941,ASerial No. 395-5302 (Ci. 3mi-294) 3 Claims.

`This inventionrelates to an envelope. opener .and .it is onefobject of"thelinvention lto provide fapdevice of this character whichi-isneatand'o'l :compact `formation, .the sizeof 'the opener being`such:thattltrrnay-be attached .'to` azkey ringlor .watch: chain orconveniently; carried inaV pocket,

the blade thatfiitinay beladjustedto cause its' sharpened edge to bedisposed at such an'incline that it will cut easily through an envelopeas the device is moved along a marginal edge of the envelope.

A further object oi the invention is to permit the blade to be soadjusted that it will only cut through one thickness of paper and thusallow an envelope to be opened by cutting only one wall thereof.

Another object of the invention is to provide a letter opener which issimple in construction, easy to operate, and cheap to manufacture.

In the accompanyingl drawing:

Fig. l is a perspective View showing the opener in use.

Fig. 2 is a view on an enlarged scale looking at one side of theopening.

Fig. 3 is a view looking at the other side of the opener.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 5--5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a sectional View on the line lE- of Fig. 3.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken longitudinally through the opener.

Fig. 8 is a sectional view on the line 8 3 of Fig. '7.

Fig. 9 is a sectional View on the llne 9--9 of Fig. 3.

Fig. l0 is a sectional View on the line lll-IG of Fig. 3.

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary view showing the opener partially in sideelevation and partially in section.

Fig. 12 is a fragmentary sectional View on the line |2-l2 of Fig. 11.

Fig. 13 is a perspective view of an opened envelope.

'Fig-14 yis a fragmentary View on the linel lil-I4 of Fig. 13. Thisletter opener has a body I taperedtoward `its front end and formed ofplastic but maybe formed of any suitablel material. A 'shank vor handle2 is formed integral withthe `rear end of the body and extendslongitudinally therefrom, the outer end portion of the handlebeing'formed with roughened surfaces 3 so that the .handle may begrasped and held Without being liable to slip frombetweenthe thumb andiingergrasping it -while openingan envelope, as shown in ;-Fig; 1. Anopening' 4 is lformed through the handleso lthat the opener may beapplied toa lkeylringor watch chain, where it will be'readily'accessible f when Ineeded.

The'portion of Vthe body between the :handle and Sits innerV sideedgeisformed with'za longij angular shape, as shown in Figs. 7 and 11, withthe wider end of the blade disposed toward the outer or iront end of thebody, the narrow end of the blade being formed with and opening throughwhich a screw 9 passes to hold the blade in place and permit pivotaladjustment thereof. The side faces of the blade have face to faceengagement with side walls of the slot 5 and when screws lil aretightened, frictional grip will be created between the blade and wallsof the -slot to hold the blade in adjusted position. The

screws HJ also serve to reinforce the portion of the body in which theslot 5 is formed. and prevent these portions from becoming cracked orbroken from the body. A set screw l! is threaded through a threadedopening or socket I2 leading from the outer side edge face of the bodyand the inner end oi the screw bears against the inner side edge of theblade. Thus, when the screw is turned inwardly, the blade will be turnedabout the pivot pin or screw 9 until it projects into the slot orchannel 8 the desired distance. rlhe set screw then serves as anabutment for the blade and the blade will be backed up by the screw andprevented from turning about the screw 9 when subjected to pressureduring a letter opening operation.

When this letter opener is in use, its handle is grasped between a thumband nger of one hand, as shown in Fig. 1, and a marginal portion of anenvelope I3 held in the other hand is engaged in the slot or channel 8of the body I of the opener. The opener is then drawn along the envelopein the direction indicated by the arrow in Figs. 1 and 11, and the bladewill cut through the envelope to open the same and permit removal of theletter from the envelope. Attention is called to the fact that the bladecuts very easily, due to the angle at which its cutting edge isdisposed, and it should also be noted that the screw II is so adjustedthat the blade extends into the channel a distance sufficient to onlycut through a single thickness of paper. Therefore, when an envelope ispassed through the channel, as shown in Figs. 11 and 12, the blade willonly form a slit or cut I4 in one wall of the envelope, as shown in Fig.14, and the portion I5 of the envelope will remain in place and serve toretain a letter in the envelope after it hasV been read and returned tothe envelope. This will also prevent an edge of a letter from beingexposed and soiled if returned to the envelope and carried in a pocketafter being read.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. An envelope opener 'comprising a body formed with a longitudinallyextending slot and a longitudinally extending channel, the slotextending diagonally of the channel and opening into the channel, ablade in said slot pivoted at one end and having a diagonally extendingvsharpened edge projecting from the slot into the channel, fastenerspassing through walls of the slot out of engagement with the blade andwhen tightened serving to draw the walls into binding engagement withside faces of the blade to frictionally grip the blade and rmly hold theblade in adjusted position with its sharpened edge extending into thechannel a predetermined distance, and a set screw threaded through asocket formed in the body with its inner end bearing against the innerside edge of the blade.

2. An envelope opener comprising a body formed with a longitudinallyextending slot opening through ends of the body and a longitudinallyextending channel opening through ends of the body and through a sideface thereof, said slot being disposed diagonally of the channel andhaving an open side edge communicating with the channel through theinner side Wall thereof, and a blade mounted in the slot and having asharplened edge disposed diagonally and extending into the channel apredetermined extent.

3. An envelope opener comprising a body formed with a longitudinallyextending slot opening through ends of the body and a longitudinallyextending channel opening through ends of the body and through a sideface thereof, said slot being disposed diagonally of the channel in thedirection of the thickness of the body and having an open side edgecommunicating with the channel through the inner side wall thereof, ablade pivotally mounted in said slot and having a diagonally extendingsharpened edge projecting into the channel, means for adjusting theblade constituting abutment means for backing up the blade during use ofthe opener, and means for releasably holding the blade in adjustedposition.

RAYMOND V. JEWETT.

